Author Information

Asha Mittal

Asha Mittal was born on 11th January 1948 to Mrs. Savitri Devi and Mr. Ram Prakash Aggarwal in the city of Delhi. Hailing from a simple, humble background, Asha's upbringing was liberal--in contrast to the generally very conservative male-oriented Indian society of those times, and she was provided thebest of education possible. After finishing school from Government Girls Higher Secondary school, Laxmi Bai Nagar, she earned her Bachelor of Arts (BA) Honours in Mathematics from the prestigious Lady Shri Ram College of the University of Delhi in 1967. She also earned her Master of Arts (MA) in Mathematics from the same college in 1969. Asha excelled in academics and was a scholarships holder throughout. In 1970, she was appointed Lecturer in the department of Mathematics, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi, She retired as an Associate Professor after serving the college for over 43 years.Asha has single-handedly brought up two sons while overcoming hardships as a single woman especially in the Indian socio-cultural set-up. One of her sons is a Professor at IIT Delhi, and the other is a Commander in Indian Navy.While being a courageous single woman, Asha is also a very sensitive person. At the time she had the luxury to explore her creativity, her empathy with lives of those she observed, especially women, evoked feeling in her leading penning of these poems. Several of her poems express the challenges and anguish faced by women in India